conferences and organizations.
(That is yours truly standing
beside Odex at the Odetics
facility in 1983.)

Shakey was one of the first
robots to exhibit true artificial
intelligence. The Odex was
capable of walking off the bed
of a small pickup truck and
turning around and actually
lifting the back of the truck off
the ground.

The New
Millennium
and IREX

The science and
applications of robotics has
changed quite a bit since the
robots mentioned above were
introduced. The new breeds of
robots in this new millennium
are better, faster, stronger, more
capable, cheaper (in 1980’s dollars),
and certainly represent vastly more
versatility. Many companies around
the world vie for customers with some
amazing robots of all types.

There are numerous organizations
that present exhibitions and
conferences that cover all aspects of
robotics. The annual International CES
in Las Vegas, NV in January debuts
many amazing service and home
robots, but it is the industrial robot
expositions such as IREX that present
the new industrial robots.

IREX 2013

Every two years, the premier
robot exposition — The International
Robot Exposition (IREX) in Tokyo,
Japan — always brings to the world
some very exciting robots and robotic
devices. Last year’s event in early
November was no exception.

“Making a Future with Robot”
was the theme, and the
conference/exposition was
accompanied by the International
Unlike Honda and its long series
of Asimo robots (shown in Figure 6),
Toyota is better known as the world’s
largest car company. Its Partner Robot
Program has recently been known for

SERVO 02.2014 77
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Advances in robots and robotics over the years.